The Milwaukee Symphony's new concert hall: Drinks at your seat, which might be onstage

A recent artist's rendering of what a future Milwaukee Symphony concert in the Warner Grand Theatre could look like. On programs when the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus does not perform, people will be able to buy tickets to sit onstage, behind and above the musicians.(Photo11: Kahler Slater / Milwaukee Symphony)

In September 2020, on your first visit to the Milwaukee Symphony's new concert hall, you'll be able to buy a drink from a mobile bar and bring it to your seat — which could be onstage, looking at the conductor over the shoulder of trombonist Megumi Kanda.

Construction crews are working prestissimo on converting the former Warner Grand Theatre, 212 W. Wisconsin Ave., into a state-of-the-art performance venue for symphonic music. The primary reason the MSO embarked on a $139 million campaign for this project was to be able to control scheduling and play more dates in its own venue, especially during potentially lucrative holiday periods.

But management is also using the fresh start to plan future user experiences.

Experiences plural is deliberate: They plan to appeal both to concertgoers who want to leave the outside world behind and immerse themselves in music, as well as folks who wants to stay wired and connected.

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Milwaukee Symphony president Mark Niehaus talks about the renovations needed to the Grand Theatre on Wisconsin Avenue in Milwaukee.
Mike De Sisti, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Arriving at the hall

The Warner Grand, which opened in 1931, was designed by Chicago architects Rapp & Rapp, a firm that designed more than 400 theaters and movie palaces. "They built in a big, grand style," said John Roloff, Milwaukee Symphony director of operations and facilities.

Other Rapp & Rapp theaters have been converted into symphonic venues, including St. Louis' Powell Hall and Pittsburgh's Heinz Hall, so the MSO and architects Kahler Slater have role models to draw on.

In part to qualify for historic preservation tax credits, many features of the Warner Grand are being restored. In one of the project's trickiest elements, the back wall will be moved 35 feet farther back into N. Second Street to accommodate a stage large enough for the orchestra. But MSO planners also see preserved decor as part of the hall's charm for visitors.

For example, when the theater reopens, the old-fashioned box office in front of the Warner Grand will become the valet parking kiosk.

Since this is Milwaukee, let's address the parking question right away. While the Warner Grand will not have its own parking structure or public lot, symphony planners plan to offer a menu of options.

An architectural rendering of the Milwaukee Symphony's future home, the former Warner Grand Theatre on W. Wisconsin Ave.(Photo11: Milwaukee Symphony and Kahler Slater)

In addition to valet parking, there will be drop-off zones on both Second Street and West Wisconsin Avenue, "really, really close to the entrances to the building," Roloff said. These will include Uber and Lyft drop-off spots.

Plenty of parking is available in the immediate area, including the Shops of Grand Avenue structures, said Susan Loris, executive vice president for institutional advancement. The symphony hopes to erect a canopy to protect people from rain and snow while they're crossing the street.

Also, the symphony is working with the City of Milwaukee to make Second Street one-way south from Wells Street to the I-794 ramp, which would "calm the traffic so it is really easy for patrons to cross the street right here," Roloff said.

More good news: Even if a concert is sold out and everyone arrives at the last moment, there should be little to no standing outside.

Congregating inside

The concert hall will have multiple entrances, feeding into both the historic building lobby and a large social space in the glassy two-story building the symphony is adding to the theater.

The pinch point for taking tickets is deep inside, so concertgoers will have plenty of room to spread out and socialize before a performance, said symphony president and CEO Mark Niehaus. Also, there will be bathrooms in these pre-ticket spaces. (In total, the new concert hall will have 91 bathroom stalls, including three family restrooms.)

While there will be will-call and a live box office, Loris has challenged her staff to have ticketing be at least 60% paperless when the orchestra begins performing in the Warner Grand. In addition to e-tickets, there also will be a print-at-home option.

An architect's vision of the ground floor of the Symphony Center portion of the Milwaukee Symphony's future home, the former Warner Grand Theatre on W. Wisconsin Ave.(Photo11: Milwaukee Symphony and Kahler Slater)

You will not see a permanent gift shop in the new hall. "So much of our product is digital," Roloff said, referring to Milwaukee Symphony recordings.

"Doesn't mean we can't have a cart," Niehaus chimed in.

Following up that point, Niehaus and Roloff underlined how flexibility is a major principle in designing the hall for users.

"One of the things that we learned, especially from the folks in Chicago's Symphony Center, is you don't really know where your audience is going to go to congregate," Niehaus said.

Sound and vision

The orchestra has announced capacity of the concert hall as 1,750. That includes about 800 seats on the main floor and 800 in the balcony. So where are the other 150 seats?

On programs when the Milwaukee Symphony Chorus does not perform, those seats will be onstage behind and above the orchestra.

"I'd want that seat for Edo (de Waart), because he is quite animated in his face vs. what you see from behind," said Loris of the MSO's music director laureate.

Mechanical risers built into the stage will make easier to reconfigure the orchestra onstage for acoustic and other reasons.

A worker carries a conduit up the balcony stairs at the Warner Grand Theatre, which is being transformed into the Milwaukee Symphony's new concert hall.(Photo11: Jonathan Kirn, Milwaukee Symphony)

Kahler Slater is working with the Akustiks sound design firm to create the orchestra shell, a necessary element of projecting unamplified music to the audience, "so that every seat is a good seat" for listeners, Roloff said.

An orchestra shell, Roloff explained, is basically a room onstage surrounding the musicians with the "wall" facing the audience removed.

"It takes the sound of the musicians and sends it to the audience in the most efficient and actually beautiful way," he said.

If you picture violinists playing, he said, the F-holes on their violins are pointed straight up. Every surface of the orchestra shell, including the ceiling, "is meticulously shaped so that the sound of the orchestra is balanced and beautiful … "

Niehaus, a former principal trumpeter who played an acoustic test at the Warner Grand back in 2000, loves how interior architectural details and contours enhance sound in the theater.

Similarly, the orchestra shell walls will not be flat, immobile slabs. The ceiling panels can move and change angles, Roloff said. On the side walls, some panels the audience can't see can be opened up. For specific kinds of music, absorbent materials can be placed behind those panels so less sound is reflected out in the audience.

The best concert halls are created to be adaptable, because orchestras are doing or presenting a wide variety of performances, including comedy, jazz and even rock, Roloff said. When the music onstage is amplified, you don't want reflective materials of the shell to muddy that music, he said.

After the show and during the week

The MSO hopes you will linger after a show with a beverage or a dessert, taking in historic features, including the Warner Grand's mirrored and marbled Art Deco wall, as well as video screens and displays of what symphony musicians are doing in the community. Musicians will be encouraged to visit with concertgoers after performances.

In a sweet grace note, Loris said they plan to turn the theater's old wooden phone booths into listening stations where visitors can hear MSO recordings.

The new hall will bring the Milwaukee Symphony into the hospitality business in a big way, including weddings and bar mitzvahs. It will have a full kitchen in the lower level, under the new addition, designed to meet catering needs, plus a plating kitchen on the second floor.

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They could host seated dinners for 300 people in the new addition's first-floor space, plus 350 in the second-floor space above it. String quartets, jazz musicians and other small groups could also play in these spaces for private or public events.

The musicians' lounge will be not be an airless "green room" stashed in the basement, Loris pointed out. It's on the first floor level in the back, with windows. Niehaus foresees using this room for special events, too.

In addition to their flagship Classic and Pops performances, the symphony will stage many of its daytime educational concerts and family performances in the new hall.

In addition to school concerts per se, the MSO plans to do more teacher training in the new hall, outreach work it now has to do at other locations. Loris envisions a permanent or semi-permanent instrument petting zoo and conducting station, with the flexibility to program more activities for students before and after concerts.

"I tell people that we are literally going to surround this block with buses so many days a year," Roloff said.

Wearing a hard hat, Milwaukee Symphony President Mark Niehaus points to the soon-to-be-remodeled Grand Theater as the new home of the MSO "five blocks down the street" during the Symphony Soiree at the Marcus Center May 18.(Photo11: Jonathan Kirn, Milwaukee Symphony)

They plan to keep the first-floor public space in the new addition open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays. "We're tentatively calling this the Commons … a place were people all over Wisconsin Avenue can gather," Roloff said.

Loris said they're seeking a coffee partner for that space.

It's much too early to announce a date, program or soloist for the first concert in the new hall. But Loris did promise one thing.

"We will absolutely have some sort of free community day," Loris said.

Right now, the plan is for a free day of music before the first paid concert, she said.

"This is a home for great music for all of Milwaukee, not just the people that contributed to the project," Roloff said. "The people that contributed to the project contributed because this is their gift to the city."